A Bangladeshi-British schoolgirl Kadiza Sultana, who had left London last year to join Islamic State (IS), is believed to have been killed in a Russian air strike in Syria, her family solicitor said.
Kadiza’s family lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said they heard a report of her death in Raqqa a few weeks ago, reports BBC.
He told BBC Newsnight that they were unable to independently confirm the death because of the nature of information from Syria.
16-year-old Kadiza Sultana left Bethnal Green along with two friends Shamima Begum, 15, and Amira Abase, 15.
Tasnime Akunjee said the teenager had grown disillusioned and wanted to leave IS and return to the UK but had decided not to risk being captured and face a ‘brutal’ punishment from the terror group.
Talking about the family, he said, ‘There’s nothing worse than finding out your sibling or family member’s been killed and by all accounts she was a young girl with a very promising future – and it’s a great loss to us all really.’
‘Every effort was made from the very beginning to try and avoid this fateful news and despite all efforts it’s unfortunate that we find ourselves with the loss of a young life.’
Kadiza and her schoolfriends Shamima and Amira flew from Gatwick to Turkey on 17 February 2015 after telling their parents they were going out for the day.
The Bethnal Green Academy pupils later entered Syria and were thought to be living in Raqqa, a stronghold for IS.
They had been studying for their GCSEs at the school in Tower Hamlets, east London – where they have been described as ‘straight-A students’.
About Kadiza, Tasnime said, ‘She had expressed a desire to come back. The problem with that were the risk factors around leaving are quite terminal also, in that if ISIS [IS] were able to detect and capture you then their punishment is quite brutal for trying to leave.’
A fourth girl from the school is believed to have travelled to Syria in December 2014.
Last year, a solicitor for the families said two of the girls had got married, without identifying which ones.
The Bethnal Green schoolgirls were among more than 800 Britons who are believed to have left the UK to join IS or other militant groups in Syria and Iraq,